I apologise to those who began reading this story a while back. I ran into a few hurdles (writer's block mainly). However, I've found inspiration again and on re-reading what I've written so far I've made a few amends and, more significantly, I have included the addition of a new chapter part way through, which I feel will improve the flow of the story. Hopefully it won't be too confusing.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or places in this story.
He lived in the shadows, shrouded by darkness. It afforded him protection for his night-time 'activities'. If he was honest, the days weren't much better – the shadows though were metaphorical and the darkness psychological.
He briefly wondered what a shrink would make of it all, assuming he ever allowed one inside his head to give them access to the horror show that was caged inside. Between the demons (both physical and mental), his parents' deaths, destructive relationship patterns and a serious hero complex, he was sure they would have a field day – maybe even a few books would be spawned from his misery.
Taking a deep breath, he mentally shook himself. It was not healthy to dwell – at least that's what they all said. Besides, he needed to return to the job at hand and that was keeping an eye on the girl who was sat drinking coffee with her friends - a slightly wired redhead (if his research was right, Willow Rosenberg), a short guy with wild hair (probably red's boyfriend – Daniel Osbourne) and a taller man wearing an 'interesting' shirt (presumably Alexander Harris). From his vantage point atop a building opposite the small coffee shop he couldn't tell what they were discussing, but they seemed to be intent on lifting the spirits of his target, the seemingly sombre (and hot) blonde.
They seemed to be a perfectly normal group of college students (although Harris it seemed had decided against further education), which made him once again question what he was doing so far from home in this quiet Californian town.
Some 'colleagues', he used the term loosely, had mentioned Sunnydale to him and he had decided to take a look into it. What he read more than piqued his interest. It seems the town had a surprisingly high death rate, especially among teens. There was also a catalogue of missing persons, a number of unsolved murders (including a deputy mayor at the start of the year) not to mention an abundance of grave robberies and disappearing corpses.
And then of course there was the high school disaster that summer. A number of graduating students and their parents and teachers were killed in what seemed to be some kind of battle and the school itself had been destroyed after an explosion.
Most of these events seem to have been blamed on gang warfare, although curiously there seemed to be little evidence and scant details of any gangs in the town and there had been no arrests made.
However, her name seemed to crop a lot in the reports though and a background check led to the discovery that she had been expelled from a school in Los Angeles after burning down the gym. He was sure there had to be connection, after all in his line of work there was no such thing as coincidence.
Watching her now though, he found himself questioning this. Maybe it was an unfortunate coincidence. Sure, she seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders but there was something almost innocent about her. And with the sun glistening on her golden hair, he wondered if she could be a ray of light in his dark world.